Monday, May 18, 2009

The Adventures Of The Hopkins Family With Their First Attempt At Making The Formidable Dessert Formally Called Lemon Meringue Pie And The Consequences

I always thought that anyone could bake; that it did not require talent beyond knowing your ingredients and measuring items etc. But I have since been proven wrong.

Last Tuesday we celebrated my father's father's 90th birthday. (It was originally May 10th, but Tuesday was the day that all his children could gather together.) His favorite pie is Lemon Meringue. In our attempts to honor our grandfather we (out of respect for the people involved in making this pie, I will not list any names) attempted making one. However, it was our very first time. It was then that I learned that anyone can bake, but there are only some people who can bake something that is actually edible. Observe the picture below.

How could such a dreadful catastrophe such as this occur? The pie crust has sunk down, the mixture underneath the meringue is burned, and the meringue itself is flat. Of course we were all in a deplorable state. We stared at each other, and the pie, said "oh no" and "oh dear" and "oh well" a great many times, and then it was time to go food shopping. We wouldn't have time to mend our error.

GRANDMOTHERS TO THE RESCUE!

Have you ever listened to your grandmother talk about the recipes that her mother used to make? Does your grandmother make those good old time recipes that just they can make because they have the old time touch? My grandmother does. And she saved the day. Quickly looking at the clock, she thought she could whip up two of her famous lemon meringue pies before we had to leave. And so she started. And here is where I discover that it does take talent to bake. Observe the picture below.

A true Lemon Meringue Pie....

So, this is how the pie SHOULD look like. The pies came out of the oven, were thrown in a box, and then we left. The timing was absolutely perfect, and dear Nana saved the day. Of course, this talent can be passed down, if she teaches us how she does it, but we'll never forget this incident when we tried to make lemon meringue pies and failed. :P

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G.K. Chesterton

Happy is he who still loves something he loved in the nursery: He has not been broken in two by time; he is not two men, but one, and he has saved not only his soul but his life.

Cicero

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Wendell Berry

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Samuel Davies

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Leo Tolstoy

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Arthur W. Pink

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C.S. Lewis

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